Requirements for a Claim

Did the Medical Staff Owe You a Duty of Care? – Duty of care means that there was an obligation to you. If you go to a doctor, hospital, or medical facility, you are owed a duty of care. This is often a very straight forward requirement for a medical malpractice claim, but not always.

Was the Standard of Care Violated? – The standard of care is the level of care which patients are expected to receive from medical staff and facilities. Your lawyer must be able to prove that when your doctor made a mistake the Standard of Care was violated. As part of your case a medical expert is necessary to prove that the Standard of Care was violated.

Were You Injured? – Even if we are able to prove the Standard of Care was violated, if you were not injured, you do not have a medical malpractice claim. In addition, the injuries must be serious in nature. Medical malpractice cases are expensive to bring due to the substantial expenses involved in proving the case. As a result, if you or your loved one didn’t suffer a serious injury, it may be too expensive to bring your case. An ethical lawyer does not want to bring a lawsuit when it will not provide you with compensation due to all of the expenses involved.

Did the Violation of Standard Cause the Injury? – The doctor’s mistake must be directly related to the damage you experienced. If the damage is unrelated to the mistake, you cannot have a successful claim.

Lowenthal and Abrams legal staff includes a doctor and nurse. These lawyers have the medical backgrounds necessary to quickly review your records so we can determine if you have a case that should be investigated further. After our internal staff reviews your records, if we think it is appropriate, we send your documents to a doctor who practices in the same areas as the doctor who injured you. This allows us to obtain the required affidavit of merit.

Limited Time to Sue

New Jersey has a two year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims. The statute begins from the date you were injured or should have known that you were injured. There is an exception for claims involving children. Children have two years from the date they turn 18 to file a suit. There is another exception for birth-related lawsuits. If a baby is injured during birth, a birth injury case must be filed prior to the child’s 13th birthday. If you fail to bring your case within the proper time period, you lose the right to sue. This is why it is important to contact one of Lowenthal & Abrams’ New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers as soon as possible, so we can take the steps to protect your rights.

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases

When a doctor makes a mistake, you shouldn’t have to pay the price alone.